Software glitch delays 660,000 tax refunds WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service says 660,000 taxpayers will have their refunds delayed by up to six weeks because of a problem with the software they used to file their tax returns. The delay affects people claiming education tax credits who filed returns between Feb. 14 and Feb. 22. H&R Block, the tax preparing giant, says that some of its customers were affected but the company has resolved the problem. A limited number of oth...

Census shows record 1 in 3 US counties are dying WASHINGTON (AP) — A record number of U.S. counties — more than 1 in 3 — are now dying off, hit by an aging population and weakened local economies that are spurring young adults to seek jobs and build families elsewhere. New 2012 census estimates released Thursday highlight the population shifts as the U.S. encounters its most sluggish growth levels since the Great Depression. The findings also reflect the increasing economic importance of for...

Florida charity figures pumped $1M to politicians TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The key players behind a purported veterans charity accused of setting up illegal gambling rooms pumped more than $1 million into the campaign accounts of politicians who had the power to regulate or put them out of business. As the untaxed, barely regulated industry mushroomed into a billion-dollar industry, money went to the campaigns of governors in Florida and North Carolina as well as dozens of state legislators, ...

Senate immigration bill may limit family visas WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators writing a comprehensive immigration bill may dramatically limit green cards for extended families of U.S. citizens, reserving them for immediate family members instead, a key lawmaker said Thursday. It would be a significant change to U.S. immigration policy that’s long favored family ties over economic or job criteria. And it’s already sparking opposition from groups trying to protect family-based immigration. Sen. ...

Pentagon: Iranian plane pursued US spy drone WASHINGTON (AP) — An Iranian fighter jet approached a U.S. surveillance drone over the Persian Gulf but broke off its pursuit after the pilot of a U.S. escort plane radioed a verbal warning, the Pentagon said Thursday. Pentagon press secretary George Little said the incident occurred Tuesday and that the unarmed MQ-1 Predator surveillance drone as well as two U.S. military escort planes remained over international waters at all times. Little s...

Bankruptcy expert named Detroit emergency manager DETROIT (AP) — Michigan’s governor appointed an auto-industry turnaround expert Thursday to steer Detroit back from the brink of ruin. The one-time symbol of America’s industrial might became the biggest U.S. city to be placed under state financial control. Kevyn Orr, a partner in the Cleveland-based law firm of Jones Day who represented Chrysler during its successful restructuring, will have broad powers to control all spending, including ren...

Senate Democrats unveil budget blueprint WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats unveiled a largely stand-pat budget Wednesday that calls for $1 trillion in new tax revenues over the coming decade but actually increases spending, while protecting the party’s domestic policy priorities and adding $4 trillion more to the national debt than a slashing alternative from House Republicans. The plan by Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash., blends about $1 trillion in modest cuts to ...

Panel criticizes military on sexual assault cases WASHINGTON (AP) — In a stinging rebuke of the military’s efforts to curb sexual assault, members of a Senate panel hammered Defense Department officials on Wednesday for making too little progress in combating the crimes and failing to improve a military justice system that victims described as slow and uncaring. During a two-part hearing, the panel heard harrowing testimony from several victims, who said military justice is broken and pushed ...

House passes bill forbidding welfare waivers WASHINGTON (AP) — Renewing a political fight from last year’s presidential campaign, House Republicans passed a bill Wednesday that would prevent the Obama administration from waiving work requirements in the landmark 1996 welfare reform law. Republicans say President Barack Obama is trying to weaken work requirements in the law — a claim that is disputed by administration officials and Democrats in Congress. The bill passed on a mostly party-...

Obama talks of resuming White House tours for kids WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is opening the door to the possibility of a resumption of White House tours for student groups amid some confusion over who made the ultimate decision to cancel them. The decision has been much criticized by Republicans who say it should remain open to the public and some expectant visitors who were planning to see inside the White House during the spring break travel season. Obama says in an interview ...

Commander encouraged by anti-Taliban uprising WASHINGTON (AP) — Villagers in an area of southern Afghanistan that was the birthplace of the Taliban movement two decades ago have staged a first-of-its-kind uprising against the insurgents, a senior American commander said Wednesday. Army Maj. Gen. Robert B. Abrams said in a video teleconference with reporters at the Pentagon that this was a new and promising development in Kandahar province with potential to spread even as U.S. and allied f...

Florida politician resigns, 57 charged in scandal ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s lieutenant governor resigned and nearly 60 other people were charged in a scandal involving a purported veterans charity that authorities said Wednesday was a front for a $300 million gambling operation. The organization, Allied Veterans of the World, runs nearly 50 Internet parlors with computerized slot machine-style games, which have come under scrutiny in Florida but are in a gray legal area. Even so, investi...

House panel OKs emergency gun regulation bill LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An Arkansas House panel has advanced a proposal to eliminate the governor's emergency power to regulate guns during a disaster. The House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs on Wednesday approved the measure by a 13-4 vote. It would remove from the list of emergency powers granted to the governor the ability to regulate guns. Currently the governor may, in the case of a disaster emergency, suspend or l...

Panel says voter ID bill vote can proceed LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A House panel says that a bill requiring Arkansas voters to show photo identification can be approved by the Legislature on a simple majority vote, rejecting arguments from opponents that the state's constitution requires a two-thirds supermajority on the measure. The House Rules Committee on Wednesday voted to recommend to the speaker that voter ID bill was properly referred to the House from the Senate on a 23-12 vot...

Panel debates school choice law rewrite LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A lawmaker says removing race as the main factor in deciding whether a student can transfer to another district would give parents more control on educational choices for their children, but opponents warn the idea could lead to segregation. The Senate Education Committee on Wednesday debated Republican Sen. Johnny Key's proposal to rewrite a 1989 school choice law that a federal judge struck down last year. Key's prop...

UCA Faculty Senate votes against guns on campus CONWAY, Ark. (AP) - The University of Central Arkansas' Faculty Senate is recommending that its campus not allow concealed handguns, despite a new state law that allows faculty members to carry the weapons. The Log Cabin Democrat reports (http://is.gd/IlXfD2 ) that the Faculty Senate passed a resolution Tuesday to support President Tom Courtway's stance to ban the concealed weapons. The gun law, which was passed by the Legislature last month, ...

Ball fields, trails top city's project listUpgrades to city ball fields and trail systems topped the list for capital improvement projects at Tuesday’s meeting of the Russellville Recreation and Parks Commission. The capital projects list, which is still a work in progress, includes improvements and upgrades to city park facilities the commission hopes to accomplish in the next several years. Funding will come from the city’s one-cent sales tax as well as from grants, private groups an...

Walmart vote could come next weekAfter months of back-and-forth between the Russellville City Council and representatives for Walmart, a vote on a proposed Walmart Neighborhood Market may finally be in sight. At the City Council’s agenda preparation meeting Tuesday, City Attorney Trey Smith told aldermen the ordinance outlining the planned unit development (PUD) was 99 percent finished and would be completed in plenty of time for the council’s next meeting, scheduled for Marc...

FDA head says menu labeling ’thorny’ issue WASHINGTON (AP) — Diners will have to wait a little longer to find calorie counts on most restaurant chain menus, in supermarkets and on vending machines. Writing a new menu labeling law “has gotten extremely thorny,” says the head of the Food and Drug Administration, as the agency tries to figure out who should be covered by it. The 2010 health care law charged the FDA with requiring chain restaurants and other establishments that serve food ...